The Blooming of Nights Fever
by Moonstone Tears
Summary: A retelling of the Greek Myth of the Lord of the Underworld Hades and Goddess Persephone. *COMPLETE*
1. Daughter of the Harvest

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Chapter One:

She had only ever known the intimate caresses of the sunlight, Persephone, daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Goddess, child immortal. 

She had only known the sweet kisses of her dear nymphs - friends, protectors, teachers.

She had only ever known the soft, loving, embrace of her mother. The Queen of the Harvest, the land, and family. 

However, Zeus… King. God of Gods. Her father. He had, had very little to do with her upbringing, but she loved him nonetheless… as he had allowed her to come into this world. 

Her world.

She embraced this world with all a child's love and adoration, desiring to see and feel more of nature, to experience it in all its fullness.

She _had_ been nothing but a child, really.

She had not hidden from anything that the world had offered. But Demeter, Demeter had kept much of the world hidden from _her._ But the Fates weave as they will, and Gods create and destroy possibilities with mere thoughts, not concerned with the effect their actions shall have. They can afford not to.

The flowers had been so beautiful that day. Persephone had wandered through them, heavenly blue eyes alight with immortal fire as she surveyed with great joy all of the beauty the new day had to offer her. 

"My Lady, my Lady!" the nymphs had called to her, laughing and dancing in the field. Twisting, turning, leaping, marvelling in the beauty of nature about them and glad in each others company.

Persephone watched and felt laughter rise, bubbling forth unrestrained and she ran to them, dark hair billowing behind her and white gown moulding to the shape of her body with careless disregard. Her footsteps were light over the fresh grass, and so it was that she danced with them there in the morning sun. A child unaware of the danger the world offered, a maiden ignorant to the appeal the supple movement of her body had – ignorant to the fact she had caught a suitor's eye. 

But he was no ordinary suitor. How could one expect him to be?

He had heard her sweet clear laughter while passing, returning to his home and bitter darkness. His horses had been the first to hear the young woman, and had veered northward towards the group, red eyes trained on her figure, pawing at the air with powerful legs, screaming with a fury that their master could not understand. He knew they were loath to continue on their path home, and that if he had perhaps tried to move them, it would have been a great effort, even for him.

It was lucky that he did not wish to move from his present spot.

He had watched the small company with great curiosity, his breast aflame with a feeling he could not name, and his skin tingling with a rising lust. A lust for the delicate girl who danced slowly, seductively in the sea of flowers.

The girl's movements however, were not made in a consciously seductive fashion. Nor did she wish them to be. She had no mind for what was pleasing to men, or what could heat their blood. Her desires were clean, untainted by the flesh. She wished for nothing but to dance and laugh in the day, to be content. And so it was that she was unaware that the dance the nymph's partook in had a very sensual nature – being very sensual beings themselves. Nymphs however were not as highly sexed as the tales suggested, but their senses were keen, lancing. They devoured every experience deliciously slowly, enjoying every moment of it. 

And so it was with dancing. Their bodies were alight with passion, reflecting the state of their inner mind. Reflecting their love for the day and for their Goddess child, Persephone. 

Persephone wasn't sure what had made her stop dancing – but she had.

She wasn't sure what had made her wish to wander away from the group – but she had.

She wasn't even sure what had made her answer that strange call – but oh, by the gods above, how she had. 

How she wished she had not.

His voice had sparked something within her however. A curiosity, perhaps. It had been smooth, silken, lilting with inflections she had thought impossible. Calming yet bewitching.

She had never before heard such a voice. 

"Child…" it had whispered to her. A call, a summon. She had looked over her shoulder in surprise, but had seen nothing but the distant forms of her friends across the field. Her hands stilled on their construction of the wreath of flowers, and she rested it on her knee as she sat silent, thinking she had imagined that gentle whisper. She bowed her head thoughtfully then when no other sound came, and continued on with her work. 

She completed her crown with no other interruptions and smiled proudly upon her work. Marvelling at the beauty of the milky white flowers, and thinking she would wear this crown forever as a sign that she was indeed daughter to the Harvest. She placed the wreath upon her head, upon hair the colour of a doe's fur. It was an earthy brown that when it caught the light of the sun, glowed golden, as if responding to the gentle touch of that sun's fingers.

She smiled.

"Persephone…" the voice was louder this time, and now she stood, a little fretfully, small gentle hands clasping the sides of her dress tightly. She looked back over to her friends and shifted uneasily when she noticed they had drifted further away from her.

She should not have wandered off!! 

"Beautiful Persephone…" the voice whispered again, this time seeming to come from her right side, and not from behind her.

"Who calls my name in such an intimate fashion?" she asked the stranger, confusion marring her smooth features.

"Come child, and see for yourself." She walked forward a little, her eyes brimming with both fear and curiosity. She still could not see the allusive stranger, and she had now wandered further from her friends.

"Where are you?"

"This way…" the voice said urgently, now from in front of her. 

A stream gurgled away directly in front of her, and she wondered if she was being summoned by some type of water nymph. "Come…" the voice urged once more, and as she moved forward, Lord Hades, God of the Underworld removed his helm of secrecy. The helm that insured his invisibility when he worked in the world above on such rare occasions. Persephone uttered a shocked gasp, the light in her eyes blazing with confusion as she beheld the stern Lord of the Dead. 

She knew not his name however, nor what duties he buried himself in, but she knew he was an immortal. That had been clear from the first. 

He was tall in his gait, menacing, dark of hair and eye, the shadow around him growing, reaching out, stroking the hem of her gown, and sandaled feet. She shivered, even though the sky was clear, and sun was warm. A smile swept across that face, and she saw how handsome he was. A beautiful deity, but somehow a fearful one. His eyes were like deep pools, as dark as coal, and his skin was pale, smooth like alabaster. The contrast of light and dark was astounding to Persephone, who had only ever seen the neutral, earthy colours of the land around her. She had not seen a being so white and dark all at once. 

"Who are you?" She said in a quiet voice, stepping closer to him absently. His smile widened as he studied her. 

"I am Lord Hades, Persephone." Her name flowed from his lips in a manner strange to Persephone, as if the use of it alone was a caress. She narrowed her eyes in wonder.

"How is it that you know my name? For I certainly did not know yours, before this moment."

"I heard the nymph's call to you, and they called you Persephone, mistress, goddess immortal."

"I am those things of which they called me… but we did not see you. How came you to be here? You are the God of the Dead; you do not wander under the light of the sun or moon." Hades nodded slowly, dark eyes flashing.

"I do not." 

Persephone looked sad, and said then with childish simplicity, "You must be very sad…" Hades raised a brow in wonder, although his mind was occupied with other thoughts around the girl. The flow of her hair, the sparkle of her gentle eyes, the elegant and graceful gestures she made with her delicate hands as she spoke… and her soft curvaceous body calling to him from beneath the filmy material of her gown. He stepped towards her with a sharp intake of breath.

"Are you sad?" she asked softly, not aware of the swift turn of his thoughts.

"My Lady?" he asked in return, taking another step forward. Persephone did not notice.

"Are you sad?" Hades considered the sympathetic gleam in her eyes and gave a sad smile.

"Yes. And lonely…" he answered in a soft murmur. Persephone's eyes shone with sorrow for the dark Lord.

"You should come into the sunshine more, My Lord." She said simply.

"You can never be sad or lonely in the light of that smile." She explained with an affectionate glance towards the sky. 

"_You_ have a beautiful smile, My Lady." He had said with a husky tone in his voice. Persephone saw how close he was to her, and her eyes widened as a cold hand, like the touch of ice followed the line of her jaw. She suddenly felt very small, and very vulnerable.

"I… I am my mother's daughter." She said softly. "If my smile is beautiful, it is because of her quiet influence." Lord Hades ignored this, and moved closer still.

A warning twisted in her fair heart, and she shook his hand away, and stepped back quickly.

"I shall return now. My friends will miss me, and I dare not cause them any distress." Hades looked angered at her rejection, and glanced towards the small group and then back down to the shivering youth before him. 

"Your friends dance happily in the light of the morning sun", she wondered at the bitter note in his voice at this. The word 'sun' seeming to twist his lips up ward's in a snarl. "Do not heed them, they care not if you come and talk with such a man as I."

Persephone refused to move forward, instead, she backed away with a shake of her head. "Nay, I wish to return to their company."

"Halt!" the word was as powerful as if he had grabbed hold of her arm and ceased her exit that way, but after a brief pause she was running back towards the group, her heart pounding in her chest as she heard the cry of his black steeds and the hammering of their hooves on the dry earth. She raised her arms above her head frantically, and called out in distress.

"Sisters! Sisters!" she called to them, not linked by blood but closer to her heart than any real sisters could be. "Help me! I run from peril like the sun from the night, save me!!" The nymph's, hearing their Lady's fair voice crying out in such fear, spun and gave cries in wonder and terror at the dark force that followed close behind their mistress. They ran like the wind towards her, courage burning in their dear hearts, anger drowning their minds. 

Persephone saw with relief their turn of attention, and reached out grasping hands towards them, wanting to fall into their safe embrace, to be kept concealed from the God that pursued her. 

Strong hands grasped her small waist as she neared her friends however, and she felt with wonder her feet leave the ground as she was lifted into the chariot, a wail of anguish tearing from her throat. 

"No!" the nymph's cried in misery, "Dark Lord, return alone to your fiery grave! Leave our Goddess here where she belongs! Take not her innocence and heart, for if she loses that, we too shall surely fade!" 

Lord Hades did not answer their pleas; instead, holding the small girl close to his breast, he opened the gates of the underworld with a resounding crack of earth splitting, and disappeared into the dark gloom, the ground closing after him like he had never been, leaving nothing but the wails of lamenting nymph's in his wake. 


	2. Mourning of the Sun

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Chapter 2:

He could have taken her, right there in the field.

It wouldn't have been so difficult. The nymph's had wandered far from her side, and in their laughing and singing would not have heard her cry of surprise. 

He could have done many things to her in fact, while wearing that helm of invisibility, but something within made him hold back. Something whispered to him to wait.

He had waited so long already to find someone who stirred that lust within him as Persephone had done. He had never felt such a thing… had never desired to lavish his attentions on any other, until that moment he heard her laughter.

She had bewitched him.

He had decided as he had watched her, making the wreath of white, that he would make her his own, his lover and Queen.

It was the least he could do, especially seeing as she was Zeus' child. Not that Zeus particularly cared about most of his offspring, but this was a Goddess… and a gloriously perfect one at that.

Hades did not want to anger anyone; he just wanted to be with this child. To hold her and love her with every fibre of his being. 

Perhaps he was a little lonely, although he had never thought so. He was a busy God, his realm larger than Zeus' in many ways. He had much to do and seemingly very little time in which to do it.

He would make time for this one though. 

She held on to him tightly now, a steady warmth seeping into his cool skin from her soft body. She had struggled at first. She had screamed and sobbed like a child and he had felt a pang of remorse in his breast, and had known what he had done was wrong. This thought did not last long within the Dark Lord's mind. She would thank him for his attentions one day. Why would she refuse him? He was Lord of the Dead. He was more powerful than any other she could have. Why, she should be grateful!

Her pale hand trembled as she clutched the wreath of flowers tightly to her chest. She had held onto that wreath with dear life as they flew downwards towards his world, a world soon to be her own. In fact, when she had initially fought his embrace as they had lit away as quickly as his horses could bear them, he had been surprised when one hand kept that crown tightly in its grasp and refused to let it go. 

He felt the wet presence of her tears soaking through his shirt onto his chest beneath, and he pushed away any feelings of guilt that threatened to approach his heart. She was quiet now, only the occasional sniffle or whimper coming from her at all.

Hades was glad. He couldn't bear to hear her cry again. It had been strangely painful for him, and he had heard many wails of misery in his life before that moment, and he had been the cause of most of _them_ as well. 

She had also given up begging for him to let him go, after being greeted by the same answer every time she had asked previously.

'You are my beloved now, you can not leave.' That had elicited more weeping, and it had pained him, but he had not backed down. His desire for the girl was stronger than his sympathy for her. 

They had come to the river Styx with out hindrance, Persephone white with fear, eyes wide and entire body trembling with it. Charon had noted her presence with obvious curiosity, the skin on his skull like face pulling back in a grotesque grin. 

'Lord', he acknowledged in a breathy rasp. 'Lady.' He added with a bow of his head. Charon was no fool and knew when respect was due. 

Persephone swayed uneasily, as if about to faint.

Hades gave her credit for remaining on her feet. Many older and stronger than her had quailed at the sight of the underworld laid before them in all it's glory.

There was happily no more talk from his servant, or his new Lady on the journey across the stagnant waters. Waters as still as death itself. It flowed sure enough, but there had never been any outward sign of such a thing. The river looked as dead and cold as the people who huddled upon its banks, waiting for passage. And for many, waiting in vain. 

Hades noted the way she sat, legs drawn up under her chin, eyes staring glassily into the water, her body shivering as if from cold. He moved closer to her as if to provide warmth, yet his presence merely drained it from her more severely. She drew into a tighter ball, shoulders hunched; face buried in her hands trying not to cry again. 

The Lord of the Dead felt strangely saddened. 

He stood then in the small boat; his eyes trained forward with pride as they neared his home.

'Look Persephone, at the Kingdom before you. Everything you see and more is now yours to share. You are home at last.' He announced in a sweet purr of satisfaction. Persephone looked up from his side, blinking as if in a daze before she turned her sorrowful gaze towards her new prison.

She stared long and hard upon the distant shores before she moved her line of sight down to the bottom of the boat and kept it there. 

She made no move to get out of the boat when it drew up to its dock, and so Hades with a heavy sigh of annoyance, lifted her up as if she were as light as a feather and he then carried her into his kingdom with great pride and joy, and a smile on his face that would have done credit to a wolf.


	3. To be Queen

****

Chapter Three:

The bed chamber was large and filled with many candles, but shadows swirled about it like mist.

It was quiet, but the wails of the dead could not be kept from Persephone's mind now that she had heard their many mouthed screams.

The room smelt slightly of earth and sulphur, but it was pungent to Persephone's nose. Pungent to one who favoured jasmine and thyme and the smell of nature itself. 

The bed was large, beautifully made and obviously comforting, but Persephone feared it with all her heart.

Hades moved towards her, white teeth gleaming in the shadows and she turned her back to him, arms folded tightly across her breast, head bowed.

She felt the cold bite of metal as it was lowered around her neck and her shoulders shook softly with repressed tears. The heavily jewelled necklace seemed to pull her head downwards with its very weight and Persephone struggled to keep from yanking it from her slender throat and casting it to the floor. 

She felt Hades cool hands run over her collar bone as he stepped around to face her, caressing her slowly cooling flesh, and she saw the sparkle of diamonds and the glint of polished gold shine from his right hand as he placed a crown upon her head. A crown, that marked her as his Queen. His dark eyes sparkled with pleasure, and in a rich velvety voice he spoke in honeyed tones that had never before been used by the Ruler of the dead. 

'Now shall Hera be ever unsure, for here is a Queen that rivals even her in power. And now shall Aphrodite be ever jealous, for here is a girl that surpasses her in beauty and wonderment', he paused and stepped nearer, his many ringed fingers running along her jaw line in a sentimental way. 'And may mortal men ever weep with a desire which can never be assuaged… for what living man shall dare touch the Queen of the Dead?' Persephone began to weep openly at this, and her once bright and carefree eyes were dull and laced with fear and sorrow.

'I would rather crawl at Hera's feet as a slave in the Heavens with the stars as my guides, than stand tall as Queen of the Underworld', Hades confusion enveloped her and she continued on, her tears flowing free and heavy. 'And I would rather scorch away my very skin in the fiery pits that you tend so dutifully, and be feared and rejected by all, than have you call me beautiful.' Hades anger was abrupt, his passion fading at her rejection, but Persephone – still just a girl – merely trembled in fear as he began to yell at her in frustration. 

'You would reject me?? The only God that could possibly rival Zeus in power? One that can give you all the riches that you desire? Did I not set you upon a throne? Did I not bestow gifts of emeralds, rubies and all other precious metals and stones to you in my devotion? I did not ravish and leave you as Zeus has so often done with his conquests. I have taken you as my Queen, not as my concubine and yet you dare defy me!?' Persephone backed away from the fearful force before her, but then with a childish stubbornness she pressed on, her heart mourning the warmth of the sun, and the gentle rolls of the hills in the meadows that she so adored. 

And her mother. How she missed her mother. 

'I would rather wear a wreath of daisies upon my brow then a crown of Diamonds… and I would rather hold a newborn lamb in my arms then a sceptre of gold. You give me riches, but I care nothing for them. I would rather have the sun caress me and fill me with warmth than have your cold and clammy touches. I had no desire for a husband or a lover and you stripped me of both choices. I am no more your wife than your prisoner.'

Hades expression was hard, and Persephone, although young could guess his thoughts. '_I gave her everything. I offered my kingdom, power, wealth and love and yet she has refused? What more can I give??' _ He did not voice these thoughts however; instead a cold steely voice came from his tall form that had nothing in it but the essence of command.

'A prisoner you may be… and a prisoner you will stay. I shall not return you to your mother. You are Queen, if not yet in practice. The fates have woven your path – accept that, and me (when the time comes), with dignity.' 

And with that he turned and strode away into the ever pressing darkness leaving Persephone alone with the cold touch of riches she did not desire, and a broken heart that could not mend. 


	4. Fields of Elysium

****

Chapter Four:

The night had passed slowly for the frightened Goddess as she lay in Hades' chamber. It had inched by at a crawl, as if to draw out her torment, as if it enjoyed her grief. 

Hades had not returned since their row, but even though she was free of the Dark Lord's presence, she had been unable to sleep. Not because of any fear or tension, but because she missed the light of the stars above her and the smell of flowers around her. She simply could not drift into a peaceful slumber without them, and her homesickness grew to such an alarming level that she wanted to cry again.

She had grown weary of her tears, and although she was childlike in many ways, she knew that her weeping was gaining her naught but sore eyes along with a sore heart.

However, she still had not been able to stop fresh tears from streaming down flushed cheeks. 

Hades had returned then and he had drawn his dark eyebrows together in a concerned frown. 

'My dear Persephone!' he exclaimed in that velvety voice, 'your tears pierce my heart, please, cry no longer. I shall hurt you not, my love. You are safe within the embrace of Hades.' 

Silken sheets had stirred and shifted as he sat upon the bed besides the exhausted Goddess, and she had shaken her fair head with eyes swollen from sorrow.

'Forgive these tears, but I long for the home you tore from me. I long for the beauty of the night sky… for the stars that sing to my heart.' Hades listened carefully, his dark eyes flickering with unreadable thoughts. 'And I miss the smell of nature about me. The smell of fresh flowers and the smell of the wind as it flies across the fields which I love so dearly.' 

Hades said nothing, his stern face sad, his cold hands locked together in contemplation, and instead he simply gave a small nod and pulled the sheets up about her shoulders. She shivered at the touch of his cold skin and she took a hand in hers.

'Why is it that you are so cold? Are you not uncomfortable?' she asked with some concern. Hades looked at the girl in surprise. She was sorrowing, he could tell, yet she asked him, the one who deserved her concern least of all, if he was uncomfortable.

'I am not.' He replied in a whisper, dark eyes battling with the pure light of hers. His voice then caught as he said, 'sleep now dear Persephone. The hours pass and morning rushes towards us. The Kingdom awaits your judgement tomorrow, and there is much to see.' Persephone averted her eyes and clutched her wreath under her chin lovingly, and called out for rest.

Somehow sleep did manage to claim her, even as the handsome Lord of the Dead sat close by her side. 

******

The underworld was not completely devoid of light, to Persephone's great surprise.

'The fields of Elysium!' Hades had announced with a rare smile and a stroke of his arm eastward. Persephone rushed forward without heed then, into the tall grass and warm sunshine.

But it was different. The sun, it was not Helios. No, it was some other magic that brought light to these fields. It was if it were an illusion… all of it. 

A small pool was in the middle of the fields and Persephone watched as a few souls knelt before it, hands cupped as they filled them with the sweet sparkling liquid and drank greedily.

'That is the pool of Forgetfulness. It allows the souls to be born again into the world above, to leave this paradise and experience life once more.'

Persephone watched with great envy. _'That I could drink from that pool…'_ she thought sadly. 

Hades offered a strong arm and Persephone, looking up at him unsure at first, accepted. They walked together then, over the fields, night courting the day, and Persephone took in the flowers and trees around her. They were not as beautiful as the trees upon the surface however. They had not the stories to tell, the songs to sing that she so loved from the ones beneath the real sun. 

There was light here that was true, but not _real_ light. The thought saddened the Goddess more than her captivity. She would have no reprieve from the darkness.

'Are the Fields not beautiful?' Hades had asked, his voice proud. Persephone, Goddess child, had heard what was unsaid. _'Is this enough for you?? Look how much I have to offer… surely you will accept me now? You could be happy here.'_ he seemed to say with those black eyes. 

For some reason, words of anger at his presumptuousness would not come, and so, with great wonder at herself, Persephone nodded. Hades eyes were afire with joy and they stopped, his hand drawing her knuckles to his lips with great affection.

Fire on ice.

Their eyes met over her bent wrist and Persephone took a shaky breath, emotions she could not name rising in a tumult of feeling. 

Darkness pursued the fleeing light.

She pulled her hand away and clasped it at her front with her other hand, head bowed, heart racing with confusion and body burning as if with fever. Hades had seen the wonder and confusion upon her pale face and had felt something within him twist with delight. Her naivety was beautiful to him, her innocence pleasing.

'Let us return. A great feast has been prepared in your honour.' His mouth snaked upwards at the corner and he said, 'Tonight, the dead shall rejoice.'


	5. A Goddess' tears

****

Chapter Five:

Demeter, Goddess, Mother to a child lost, cried softly under the light of the stars.

Alone she walked in the fields, the very lands where her daughter had danced and laughed with joyous abandonment hours before.

'Daughter!' she called in anguish, 'Nymphs! Where is it that you dance now? Why do you leave my cries unanswered? Grief falls heavy upon the Goddess of the Harvests. Please, end my suffering and let me hear your fair voices rise in melodious song to answer mine!'

Long did she search, her golden brown eyes raking the land before her in fruitless pursuit. Her hands reached to the heavens in desperate plea for aid, and she moved gracefully through the long grass, passing like a ghost, only her tortured voice making her presence known.

The trees lamented with her, bowing down as she passed them, weeping for the loss of the maiden whom they too adored. 

'They are gone… gone…' they whispered to her in crackling tones of grief.

'Where? Where have they gone?' Demeter asked of them, fear clear in her countenance. 

'Gone they are, passing us in such grief that our sleeping hearts stirred deep within our skin of bark. "Taken!" they had cried. "A lamb tricked by the wolf… destroyed she shall be now. No longer mistress of ours." They are gone, fair Goddess, fading as if they had never been…' Demeter's sorrow brought her to her knees, and her body trembled. Immortal proud, she had not known such loss.

'Who is this one who has dared take my daughter and heart?' The trees were quiet for many moments, already drifting back into their own sleepy thoughts.

'Helios…' they finally whispered to her, voices beginning to fade into silence. 'Ask the sun, ask Helios…' 


	6. To Move the Stars...

****

Chapter Six:

__

"Pleased as he grasps her in his iron arms,

Frights with soft sighs, and with tender words alarms."

Darwin.

Tempted she had been - Persephone, wife of darkness, child of nature, in Hades' halls.

Delightful had the bounty upon table laid appeared… yet Persephone observed it with a knowledge that she had learned long ago, 'to eat the food of the dead means an eternity in Hades halls.'

Never again would she see her mother or her bright sun. She would be forever bound to Hades, and this she could not abide.

And so it was that she shook her dark head and averted her gaze instead to the Cyprus tree outside the looming windows. 

It cast a perpetual shadow upon the entire palace and Persephone found no real beauty within it. She could see the death about it now, the time spent in the Underworld already corrupting her view of life. Death was always right beyond that light.

How unfair it seemed. How sad…

Hades despaired over Persephone's unwillingness to partake in celebration with him, but watching his young wife with a sympathetic eye he stood and to his room they returned. 

He knew not that this caused her more distress, and if he had he may have gone slower with the young Goddess, but Hades was not one of wooing women. He had not the proper practice, so knew not what was expected in such situations. Yet Persephone, innocent and forgiving in her way did not hold such a thing against him. Their talks during the day had in fact been happy, and great laughter had visited the Lord of the Underworld for the first time, and his face had ached from it.

The chamber pulsated with the gloomy song of night and Persephone looked upon it with a sad eye. She knew she would never cease to miss the stars. 

Hades however laughed once more, the sound pleasing to the Goddess.

'Despair not, daughter of the Harvest! May you look upon the heavens tonight in your own way… look upon Hades night sky, a sky for you alone!' then he had cast an arm upwards, torches flaring into life about the room, and Persephone cried out in disbelief and awe.

Stars there were, sparkling upon the ceiling of the chamber. The firelight danced amongst them, and Persephone's heart soared. She moved into the room, arms raised above her head, reaching for their calming light, and it was only then that she saw that they were indeed _not_ stars, but diamonds, imbedded in the ceiling and catching the light that was about the room. 

She was not unhappy by this realisation however, nay, laughter came freely to her and she spun to Hades and in childlike gratitude embraced his lean form and planted a gentle kiss upon his pale cheek. 

'Grateful I am Dark Lord, for your stars rival that of the heavens themselves! Father himself should take lessons from your apt hand, for they outshine any stars he has moved in the sky!' Hades' pride was great and he encircled the young Goddess' waist, a smile upon his full lips and his dark eyes drinking in her face greedily as she leaned towards him. 

'I move the stars for you and you alone, dear Persephone. Your smile alone is reward enough for any effort I may make in pleasing you.' 

Yet still he kissed her, the powerful God holding her close so she could not turn from him. Persephone struggled briefly under his icy lips and cold grasp, confusion overwhelming her. She knew not why he wished to hold her so, to seek such pleasures with her soft mouth. But her confusion soon gave way to wonder. His icy lips warmed upon hers, and his iron grasp seemed to soften, strong yet no longer fearful. Sweet like honey was the taste of his mouth upon hers; beautiful like a bird's song was his moan of pleasure. Wondrous was the sight of him, like the sun setting upon the water, as he pulled back and caressed her cheek tenderly. 

And happy was she, maiden and Goddess. Daughter and Wife. She saw his power and his vulnerability and knew his tender heart and his cold will and she was pleased.

Innocence faltered and ignorance bowed.

She reached for him, blue eyes afire and rosy lips parted.

A wreath fell, forgotten to a stone floor and the light merged with darkness in blissful abandonment. 

And so it was that Hades took her as his own, their stars shining pleasantly in the bowels of the earth, unaware to the faltering of life above them


	7. Flight to the Underworld

****

Chapter Seven:

Demeter had cast down her bouquet of flowers with a cry of rage and despair as Helios told her of Hades abduction of her daughter. 

The lands began to freeze over like her heart at that moment; the trees had cried their blood red leaves - their forms like skeletons upon the bleak landscape. And for the first time, winter visited the land.

Zeus, God of Gods heard the cries of despairing mortals when food ran low and sickness infected the lands, and his attention was drawn down to the earth. The Great God gave a cry of shock, his call booming over the lands in a crack of thunder. Lightning streaked the sky.

Demeter knew also of his displeasure at her refusal to do her duties, but ignored it. None shall be happy until she too was happy – her daughter at her side where she belonged.

Goddess was she and so, was unused to not having her way.

'Hermes!' Called the God of thunder, his blue eyes filled with resignation when all pleas to Demeter were answered with the same words, 'The lands shall not flourish until my heart sings again at the sight of my fair Persephone.' The winged messenger approached quickly, bright eyes filled with their usual mirth and his smile wide. A happy god was he for the most part, rarely angered or surprised, with knowledge of all sorts at his very fingertips.

'My Lord?' he asked with a bow. 'You call, and I come as swiftly as I may, though I may be far from your side.'

'I bid you go to Hades dark Palace and bring back fair Persephone. Demeter heeds not my orders, and so I must seek the Daughter of ours in return for life to continue. Do this at once and tell Hades of my will and warn him to obey, for I shall not tolerate a refusal in this.' 

So it was that Hermes took flight to the dreary underworld, his mind set upon his task and his soul determined.

All would be well now, the child would return to her stubborn mother's side and life should bud upon the dead soil once more


	8. A Pomegranate and a Choice

****

Chapter Eight:

__

Icy touches merged into heated caresses. A type of fever descended upon the night, causing it to pulse, bloom, light filtering into the shadowy realm unbidden. A piece of heaven descended into the bowels of the earth and elicited cries of pleasure from the bed of Hades and his Queen, Persephone. Once daughter to the harvest, now wife to darkness. And Hades. Once darkness itself, and now the light she craved…

Hades looked down upon his sleeping wife a tender smile upon his full lips, and his heart filled with a warmth that made him wonder if the sun itself had made its home there.

But with this joy there was also a sadness of sorts. 

She still refused to eat the food of the Dead with him. This saddened Hades greatly, as it showed the young Goddess' reluctance to stay here with him. He looked down upon the pomegranate that he held in his pale hand and wondered for a moment. No, he would not force her to feast with him, nor would he mention it. She would love him one day, and when that day came, he would praise the heavens themselves.

She had already been here many long nights, but those nights had not been bleak but filled with a light that Hades had never experienced before. 

He felt… changed.

Carefully and quietly he placed the pomegranate within the vanity chest he had bestowed upon Persephone days before, a sign of his affection. The wreath of narcissus' lay there beside the pomegranate also and Hades looked for a long while upon that crown of flowers before he finally shut the chest with a sad sigh. 

****

'Hades, lord of the dead, Zeus demands Persephone's return to her mothers lonely side.'

Hermes stood bravely before the tall lord and his bright eyes were unafraid. Not many could wisely look upon the Lord of the Underworld without fear or uncertainty. Hermes could do both, and still hold a smile on his wide mouth. Persephone stood just behind her Lord, her blue eyes wide with many emotions. 

Hope, relief, confusion and strangely, sadness. 

'Why should I relinquish my most beloved jewel to the world above? Why must I go back to wandering in darkness alone? Zeus may have any woman that he so desires, yet why not Hades, Lord of the Dead though he be?' 

'Zeus chooses his conquests wisely, my Lord.' Hermes voice was light and teasing and Hades dark eyes were murder itself. 'I do not come to demand fair Persephone's return without reason. Demeter brings famine to the land in her sorrow and life fails. This may sound like a blessing to you, a lover of death though you are, but to the Gods of Olympus this is grievous news. Where will we get our sacrifices if mortals should perish? Who will worship us, construct our altars if they die? 

'No dark Lord, return Persephone to the world of the living once more, or you too will be without worship and have many enemies though you still hold true your stolen prize.' 

Hades was silent for a long moment and then with a growl he turned to his wife, looking down at her, his stern face filled with anguish.

'Gather what things you may from your chambers and return here when you have done so.' His eyes shimmered with what looked like tears, but Persephone thought her eyes must have deceived her. For why would he cry over a loss such as she? Unless…

The young Persephone nodded in answer and then turned, fleeing to her chambers, her heart thudding wildly in her breast.

What was this that she was feeling? Why did her heart hurt this way?

She shut the heavy doors of the chamber and stood breathing heavily, suddenly weary at the entrance of the room. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she wiped them away in confusion. This was her chance to leave the darkness finally, to embrace the light once more!

She looked about the room, memories of nights past wafting through her mind, before she slowly walked to the wooden vanity box that Hades himself had bestowed upon her. Where she had placed her wreath of narcissi's.

How long ago that seemed.

The box clicked open and she spied the crumpled crown, murky in the darkness of the chest. She pulled it out slowly and looked over it with great sorrow. She could barely remember the child who had worn it now. She could vaguely remember the light of the sun, its sweet song as it rose over the mountains each morning, and its lament as it fell from the skies to make way for the moon and stars each night.

She placed the crushed wreath upon her head slowly, resignedly, and as if on cue, songs drifted in the back of her mind. Beautiful yet haunting voices sung lilting melodies that spoke to her very heart. Persephone's eyes fluttered closed and confronted the murky darkness of her mind, where the songs became louder, a dance laying itself on her feet, gradually beginning to move her body to the steady song from her memories. 

Something caught her eye then. A flicker of red in the black - a splash of colour in the gloom. Persephone stilled and approached the small chest once more, peering inside.

A pomegranate. She knew not where it had come from and wonder crossed her face as she stood looking into the chest with thudding heart. She reached a trembling hand to it and felt its smooth fullness in her fingers. 

Memories of that first meal with Hades flickered across her mind. 

A stubbornness she had possessed. A keening for the light above, and not the light of her true love.

She was changed.

Ignorant of life she had been, yet she had lived it everyday. Unaware of love she had been, and had pushed away her heart.

A fire kindled and raged then, in Persephone, Goddess child. 

No more fears lived in her fair heart, no more regrets, only a courage and a sweet adoration for her dark Lord that she had never thought could exist.

She plucked a seed from the bright red fruit slowly, hesitantly, knowing there was no way back if she did what she planned. 

She placed the seed, like fire in her mouth, upon her tongue and consumed it. She paused, waiting for some sort of outward change that showed she had partaken of the food of the dead, but there was nothing. Relieved but surprised, she picked another seed and ate it almost greedily. And another and another and, another again. She had just placed the sixth seed upon her tongue however, when Hermes pushed into the room, sensing a disturbance as only an immortal could.

His eyes went wide and his wail of despair echoed throughout the great halls with his realisation that he had failed his master and friend, to perhaps the downfall of all. 


	9. Farewell to the Darkness

****

Chapter Nine:

The tortured cry of the light-footed Hermes had summoned Hades to Persephone's chamber with such a haste that the South wind itself would not have been able to catch him. And such a blind fury was upon him, that the inhabitants of the underworld felt it trembling through their souls, moaning and covering their heads with great fear and distress. They called for Mercy and begged him to calm, to no avail. 

He had thought Persephone in trouble – had thought something terrible had befallen her. Such a thought tore at his very fibre, twisted his soul and made him… afraid. 

When he arrived at her chamber however, he was confronted with a sight that caused him to tremble with an emotion that was not anger, nor fear. 

Hermes held Persephone's wrist in a vice like grip, although her hand was open, palm upwards and stained red, but empty.

A pomegranate lay at her feet. 

Her blue eyes had flickered at his entrance and he had stepped hesitantly towards her, the sound of Hermes speaking strangely distant as he focused upon her mouth.

The juice from the pomegranate stained the corners of her full lips, as red and thick as blood itself.

'You have won, Lord Hades. Be glad and rejoice in your victory…' Hermes released his hold upon Persephone's slender wrist and turned away in disgust. 

Persephone's chest rose and fell heavily with the effort of each breath, distraught.

She watched Hades approach with a racing heart, his shadow looming about her, but no longer intimidating or fearful – but comforting. The look in his eyes was as blinding as the light of the sun, and his graceful movements towards her caused her to tremble, betraying her emotions. His gaze was focused upon her stained lips she knew, and she absently tried to lick clean the juice upon them, suddenly embarrassed for reasons she could not tell.

Hades, Lord and Husband, reached out and touched the corner of her lip with a look of concentration on his handsome face.

Love was in her gaze, and with that glance he knew, as only a true lover could why she had eaten the pomegranate. 

A smile graced his face then, a smile that he used only for his one love. His wife and Queen. Affection overcame his hardened heart and he leaned down and caught soft lips in a tender kiss.

The blood of the pomegranate disappeared under his mouth and locked they were in a passionate embrace, an embrace powerful enough to shame the unabashed Hermes.

A look of sorrow there was upon the Goddess' face however, when Hades withdrew.

_'My mother…'_ She seemed to say with that quiet glance. Hades heard and he straightened resolutely, knowing what must be done.

'Of how much did you consume, Goddess of mine?'

'Naught but six seeds my husband.'

'Glorious Persephone, I can not take you from your mother's side, the earth withers and dies above us in her sorrow and the other God's despair. Yet you have eaten the food of the Dead and so by law must remain… so I propose this; may you reside above with your mother for six long months of every year, daughter of the harvest… marvelling in the light of your beloved sun. And then, for the other six months may you sit by my side, as Queen of the Dead and beloved to your dark Hades.' Persephone looked up at her husband with wonder at his wisdom, but also with a bittersweet emotion. She was leaving for her dearest mother – but leaving meant casting aside his love for six long months.

'Yes, my Lord.' She had answered clearly, her voice heavy with sorrow. 

Hermes was silent during this exchange, but his heart had soared at the outcome. Demeter would be unhappy with the arrangement, but mortals and God's alike could return to their lives, no longer affected by the trials and tribulations caused by Hades' love of one once innocent maiden.

'Come then, time runs short, Queen of the Dead, and the earth falters under the heavens.' 

Hades travelled with the pair through the halls, over the river Styx and to the very entrance itself of the Underworld, his dark eyes brimming with sorrow at the loss of his most precious jewel to the world above. Persephone halted with him, and they kissed one last time before she began the upward climb towards the surface, casting a last glance behind herself at her husband standing tall and solemn at the gate, before she was blinded by the harsh and unforgiving light of the sun. She cried out in pain and sorrow, covering her tender eyes.

Oh, how she missed the darkness.

__

Authors note: Well people, that's it! If anyone wants me to do any retellings of other myths, please let me know, cause I might give it a go for you! =) I love greek and roman mythology, so I'd be more than happy to have a go for you. You may notice that in this retelling that Persephone ate the pomegranate even though she knew what would come of it… whereas in the original myth she did not know what would happen and was tricked to staying at Hades side. This was obviously a take of the myth in my own way, so therefore I took a bit of artistic licence and changed a few things, which I hope didn't ruin the story for any of you! Anyway, thanks for reading =) 


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